We reached out to some of our favorite entrepreneurs and asked them to think back and tell us about how they decided to start a business. Check out their responses below.

Lisha Mack | Self-taught Artist and Mother to Alex

Background info: “My Peoples” Art is an abstract art collaboration between mother and daughter Lisha and Alex Mack of Longview TX. Alex is a college student with Down syndrome. She attends the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is in the LIFE (Learning Is For Everyone) program. Read more>>

Keisha Avery | Owner and Head Chef

My thought process behind starting my business was to create an environment that would allow me to feed those in need while building a generational platform that can reach near and far. My grandmother is my inspiration as when we were younger I used to watch her send plates all over town to feed those that did not have as we did. She not only shared her food but she shared her family to spread joy. Read more>>

Nicole + Alexis Craven + Smith | Co-Founders of Après Hours

As espresso martini connoisseurs, we [ Nicole and Alexis ] saw an opportunity after noticing a lack of our favorite coffee and caffeine infused cocktail in the ready-to-drink spirits industry. With nothing on the shelf that compared to our favorite espresso martini and with few RTD cocktail brands that are female founded as well as dairy-and-gluten free, we decided to create our own.
The alcohol industry is a trillion-dollar global industry and yet it lags behind when it comes to gender diversity as it is male-dominated. Read more>>

Rosondra Franklin | Owner of Under the Brim REF

The thought process in starting my own business was the push I was getting from my close friends and sisters. I have always been supportive in assisting everyone who thought about or have a business, whether it was fashion line, a hair line, cleaning business, etc. I would listen, brainstorm and promote their business as if it were my own. One day, I woke up and decided to research and do the same for myself. Read more>>

Sierra Vital | Women’s Boutique Owner

Balanced is now 3 years old, and if we do the math my business started in 2020 during the world pandemic . What people viewed as a time to pause, a time to be afraid, a time to travel, and a time to relax . God gave me a message , matter fact was answering my prayer . After time after time of me expressing to God , that I already have my degree and certificates, I already worked retail, I already did this and that , and now, I was asking him to help me start a business, but I was scared because the world as a whole was entering a new season , and you know what God told me . Read more>>

Elliott Rodriguez | Artist, Business Owner and Head Witch at Crow and Marigold Apothecary

I wanted to open up a witchy cat Cafe initially. My best friend and I thought this up years ago where local bands would play, cats would get adopted and people would come get witchy wares, drink tea and read books. As time went on, my friend opened up a tattoo shop, and I started a family, and it was while I was a stay at home parent that I realized I had the time to make this happen. So I finally opened up shop. Read more>>

Yakira Johnson | Hairstylist

The thought process of starting my own business was finding something that I really loved doing and make an income while doing it. I have previously started business just because I was curious and eventually ended the business because I did not enjoy or have any interest in it anymore. I’ve always wanted to be my own boss, I do not enjoy working for someone else and this year I decided to take the steps to change that. Read more>>

Deidra Mayberry | Co-Founder & Executive Director, Reading to New Heights

t all begins with identifying the passion I had around adult literacy and the unique idea that has the potential to solve the problem around adult illiteracy.  Read more>>

Earl Smith | Cleaning Business Owner & Operator

First of all, thank you for considering me for the business interview. I’m excited to have the opportunity to discuss my cleaning company, QC Me, LLC. Starting this company in 2018 was a turning point for me after facing several job losses. I had been working tirelessly for others, sacrificing family time and activities in order to support my family financially. Read more>>

Kory Davis | Organizer of Dallas Anime Meetup

We aren’t a business, but Dallas Anime Meetup (DAM) was founded with the intention to create safe and inviting opportunities for anime fans to interact with each other in the DFW area. Our original founder, Dennis Phelan, created this group back in 2017 with that goal in mind and since then DAM’s had 4 organizers, grown to over 4000 members, and hosted over 380 events in DFW. Read more>>

David Headley | Owner of Shedding Light on Solar

I was hired as a solar salesman for a local company in 2022. I was so excited to work in an industry I believed was preparing for the future and putting the power of electricity into the hands of homeowners. Due to the commission only pay structure, I was still bartending four days a week at night to pay my bills. After months of training and appointments with no compensation, It didn’t take long for me to realize that nearly everything I was taught revolved around manipulating homeowners into making unsound financial decisions. Read more>>

Joy Bell | Owner & Operator of Petty Candle Co

I’ve always wanted to work for myself, and I’m a HUGE candle lover. One day I noticed that I was getting headaches after burning certain candles and I was curious to know what was in the chemical make up of the candles, and what I found prompted me to learn how to make my own! Read more>>

Beltline Supply | A Metroplex T-shirt and Apparel Company

We both collect t-shirts from our favorite businesses and from our travels, like breweries and coffee shops. However, we wanted something to represent our ties to our hometowns, specifically The Colony and Carrollton. We both had been shopping around for a while, but could never find t-shirt companies that really called back to the things we remember and cherish about our homes. Read more>>

Marc-alain Muteba | Podcaster

Unbounded Growth had a simple beginning. Around 2011, just a year after I started learning English and realized how awesome reading books could be, I had this cool thought. I imagined a platform where I could talk to people about how they grew as individuals, their business stories, and the tough stuff they faced. Even though I lived in Kenya and had no clue how to start, I grabbed a pen and scribbled my ideas in a notebook. Read more>>